Steroids case heads to Court of Appeals Tuesday

ALBANY — More than five years after Albany County prosecutors drew national attention following the raid of an Orlando pharmacy, New York’s highest court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on whether to sustain an indictment against the pharmacy’s operators, who were implicated in a massive steroids-distribution network.
The central argument before the state’s Court of Appeals is whether a defendant can sue their prosecutor and then claim the prosecutor should be removed from the criminal case due to a conflict of interest.
The state District Attorneys Association has filed a brief in the case, alarmed by what it believes could be a dangerous precedent. The group has joined Albany County in challenging a decision by Albany County Judge Stephen W. Herrick to disqualify District Attorney David Soares and appoint a special prosecutor. Herrick, who has dismissed multiple indictments in the case, concluded that Soares had a conflict of interest after the pharmacy’s operators filed a civil rights lawsuit against the prosecutor and other law enforcement officials.
The district attorneys association characterized Herrick’s decision as “of broad concern to all members of the association.”